Stark: Tigers have mastered "art of the deal"

The Detroit Tigers have not just moved into baseball's elite because they are spending a lot of money (although that's certainly part of it). As ESPN.com's Jayson Stark writes, Detroit Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski has become a master of trades and in so doing has turned the Tigers into one of baseball's top franchises.

December 5, ESPN.com: Yeah, it's true the Tigers did indeed give up a minivan full of players in this deal -- headlined by the two centerpieces, center fielder Cameron Maybin and pitcher Andrew Miller. But Dombrowski says he can't understand why anybody would think he should have done anything less.

"I know there's a thought process in today's game -- and I agree to an extent -- that you can't give up prospects," the GM said. "But I don't necessarily agree with that. If you don't give players up, you aren't going to get players. I don't know where this thing started, where you're going to get players who are good players and not give anything up. It doesn't happen."

So to those who say the Tigers made this deal to try to win now, or before this mythical two-year window closes, Dombrowski responds: "We did make this trade to win now. I mean that's obvious. We built this club to win. ... We have acquired Edgar Renteria, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. And we haven't traded one player we thought would be on our major league club this coming year to start the season. That's not easy to do. ...